33 percent of all trademarks granted to individuals and sole proprietorships in 2012 went to women.

Women own 30 percent (a total of 7.8 million) of companies, generating $1.2 trillion a year in sales.

55 percent of women-owned businesses with receipts between $100-500K expanded or had constant employment between 2007–2009.

In addition, a recent national survey by Web.com Group, Inc. and the National Association of Women Business Owners found a pervasive sense of economic optimism, and a prediction by 85% of WOB that more women will become entrepreneurs in 2013 than in years past. In a positive sign for the economy, they also plan to invest more (38 percent) or the same (54 percent) in hiring this year than they did in 2012.

But all is not rosy in WOB land. Women still face significant challenges in business, including:

The struggle to be taken seriously, especially in male-dominated industries such as finance

For any woman who has ever been told ‘not to worry your pretty little head’ about a business issue, it’s enough to make your blood pressure spike. The issues become more pronounced when looking for financing, and many women do everything they can to avoid trying to get credit. In the past year, 78 percent of the surveyed WOBs did not seek a new or extended line of credit. More than half of them indicated they did not want to tak on additional credit while 32 percent did not think they could get credit if they tried.

That’s not the case at Paragon Financial. WOBs are the fastest-growing portion of our business portfolio.

Factoring with Paragon Financial offers WOBs a real solution because:

Investor confidence is not an issue. Funding decisions are based on the credit-worthiness of your customers, not on a business owners personal worth or their company’s balance sheet.

Solutions for young businesses, two years established and younger.

There’s no need to gather 3 years of back taxes and paperwork.

Large, quick growth can be handled with continued funding.

Paragon has worked with women entrepreneurs since the very beginning, in industries like staffing, security, healthcare, IT, and especially government contracting which favors women-owned businesses.

About Paragon Financial Group
For over 18 years, Paragon Financial Group has provided working capital solutions for growing companies throughout the U.S. They serve small to large-size companies across a wide variety of industries through accounts receivable, invoice factoring, and purchase order financing up to $3 million per month in volume. Paragon is a leading source for receivables financing, government contract financing, payroll funding, and purchase order financing. For more information visit http://www.paragonfinancial.net.